Difference between revisions of "Senate of Taijitu"

Revision as of 20:43, 28 June 2010

The Senate of Taijitu is the legislative branch of the government of Taijitu. Taijitu's legislature is unicameral, and the Senate does not share power with any other legislative chamber. The Senate's legal basis lies in the second article of the Constitution of Taijitu which defines both its composition and powers. In addition to the creation of legislation, the Senate is also responsible for overseeing both the delegate and Court of Taijitu in certain matters. The Senate presently consists of seven senators, the default number ordained by the constitution. They are elected at large every seven weeks, with the most recent election having been held in June of 2010.

History

Taijitu's government originally also vested legislative power in a unicameral Senate. The original Senate was, however, not elected. Instead the original Senate of Taijitu inherited its model from the government of the Lexicon, under which any citizen who had held their citizenship for 15 days could apply to join the Senate. Any applicant would be subjected to a review and approval by the current membership. In practice applications were, with only one exception, never turned down, and the Senate functioned as an essentially directly democratic body. This necessarily meant that members of the executive and judiciary had to be members of the Senate as well to be represented, resulting in conflicts over the issue of separation of powers on several occasions.

On March 23, 2008, the Senate was disbanded as part of a coup by Sovereign Dixie. In its place, the Citizens' Assembly was established. Like the old Senate it functioned as a direct democratic body, but new members were not subject to approval by the current membership. As its name suggested, its membership was composed of all citizens. This body remained in place only as long as it took for the Citizens Assembly to pass a new constitution re-establishing the Senate.

In the May of 2010, Gulliver and Eluvatar collaborated to create a proposal for a new constitution as part of a broader regional revival. In writing this proposal, it was decided that the Senate should be restored but should be elected so that a stronger system of checks and balances could be established without denying any person representation. The direct democracy present in the Citizens Assembly and first Senate before it were meanwhile replaced by a system of petitions and referendums. These proposals were subsequently received positively by a broader constitutional convention. On June 20 a new constitution with these provisions establishing an elected Senate was approved, and the modern Senate of Taijitu was established.

Election

Elections for the Senate occur every seven weeks, and are concurrent with delegate elections. All seven members are elected at large. This is done by means of the single transferable vote using the Droop quota. This allows for proportional representation without requiring candidates to affiliate themselves with a party, something which would conflict with the fact that many Senators have no party affiliation. Any citizen is eligible to run for the office of Senator or to vote in an election. Vacancies that occur between elections are filled by recounting the ballots of the most recent election as if the absent senator were no running. The most recent election of the Senate was concluded on June 28, 2010. As there were only seven candidates, all were elected by default.

Procedures

Under the constitution, the Senate alone has the power to define the internal procedures by which it does business. They can not be modified via a petition and referendum as another law might be. The constitution also provides that the Speaker of the Senate may use their discretion in instances where no procedure exists. Currently, the Senate has no agreed upon written procedures.

Membership